Device for catching flies or other insects



Jan. s, 1924. 1,480,245'

O. R. DAILEY DEVICE FOR CATCHING FLIES OR OTHER INSEGTS Filed Sept. 29 1922 Patented den. i924 a, la i entre OWEN R. BAILEY, OF NICHOLS, WISCONSIN.

Application sind september se, i922. sentar un. seneca.

To all @from 2f may concern:

Be. it known that l, OWEN R. BAILEY, a citizen of the UnitedI States7 residing' at l'flicliols7 in tlie countyjot' @uta-garnie and State olZ Wisconsin, bave invented certain new und useful improvements in Devices for Catching Flies or Other Insects; and l do hereby declare tbe following to be a full7 cle-er, end exact description oit the invention,

` such as will .ena-ble others skilled in tbe art to wliicb it eppertaiiis to make and use the l. Suc-.li yflies and insects are often annoyin locations ivliere it. is difficult or unto use a` tly sivatter for killing '."o" instance, about a dining` table or about pY es ivliere food is being prepared.

lt in object o bis invention to provide a tly or insert cerchi device which can be moved close to lille ry and operated to catcb. the sa without. knocking; the fly into en ur'l'sirable place.

`s a iurtber oliiiect ot the invention to pro ide suoli a device in a small ,Gun-like term. which device has reti! l n embers adapted move toward: ond from each other and betweenl Wliicli tlie fly or other insect is can@ t.

More speci illy. it is obicct of the tico to provide such a device having i screen-covered trames which are moved to; *lier by resilient means. which means lield under tension and released by a device to quickly move said .trames These and otli objects and advantages of the invention ill be' lnlly set tortli in g description made in connec- 0 "r in rougbout tlie different views, "cli-A a view in central longitudinal tlie dei'ice:`

a plan view partly in section, L in dotted lines an extended position of die device;

F is a vertical section on the line 3-3 Fig'. l. es indicated by tlie arrows;

Fin', 4 is a section on the line 4 4 of Fig.

,s indicated by the arrows; and

rig. 5 is a developed plan view ot one of tbe parts of the device.

end destroying lilies and other i-n- Referrin atene end to :tor-m a convenient 'handle lor grip. Said barrelis flattened `someii'rlcetat its forward end andkprovided' Wit-li OppoL sitely disposed apertures' adjacent'said end* through' which project tlie 'curved' and' o ppositely disposed arms y3' l:tormed .at `their outer ends into flat frames' 4 illustrated .as or rectangular sliape; fTbe .frames 4 are covered with reticulat-e material 5,1 preferably in the form-.of ordinary ily screen, Which screen is also ot rectangular elia-pe and lia-sthree of its edges bent parallel with tlie main -body thereof, as sliovvn in Fig. 4. Said screens can vthus be easily slid onto tbeframes 4 and can be easily moved thereon or removed therefrom. The inner .ends .ot thev arms 3 are formed with eyes pivotally connected to vertical pivot members 6 extending between persllel sides or' a. member 7. The member 7 is preferab-lyvmade froml a blank9 ysuoli as shown in Fig. 5, comprising tivo substenf tially circular members connected'by a central narrofwstrip. Thesemembers are bent into parallel relationya's shown in 'Fig'. l,"

ol said loop with a vert-ical vhandle orngerpiece 13 provided Witlra rearwardly curved projection extending 'through aslot formed in the upper side of the barrel '1.' lloe barrel l Ais provided with a trigger lmember having a finger-piece 15' normally urged into the position slioivn in Fig. l by a spring 18 secured to the underside of the barrel. vllllie said trigger has' a forwardly extending arm Ward end over which the member 14 is adapted to engage. Thefsaid erm is curved downwardly tromtlieztopi oitlie-,por'tion 16 so l'that as .the member 1.4' moves forwardly the arm will be depressed and will rise in the rea-r of said member. The forwardly y to tbe drawingsta' lbarrel or tube 1, which preferably will: be -m'ade of thin sheet metal, is provided' lwhich is bent i -954A j acent, its rear end and is provided in front provided with a stop portion 16 at its pforextending arm of the trigger is prevented from extending too far into the barrel by the laterally bent portion 17 contacting with the bottom of the barrel.

Normally, the parts of the device will occupy the position shown in Fig. 1. When it is desired to operate the same the device will be held in the hand and the member 13 may be pushed forwardly by ther thumb or one of the fingers of the same hand, or, if desired, said member may be moved by the other hand. When said member is moved forwardly, the portion 14 will catch in front of the stop member 16 and the spring 11 will be held 'in extended tensioned position. rllhe arms 3 are formed of spring material and as the member 7 moves forwardly, these arms will swing and spring into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. |The device is now moved adjacent to the fly which it is desired to catch and when in sufiiciently close position thereto the trigger 15 is operated. The member 14 will be released and the spring 11 will swing the member 'l and arms 3 rearwardly, thus quickly swinging frames 4 together, The fly will thus be caught between the screens on the frames 4. The device is usually held just above the level of the fly so that if the same starts to fly, owing to the movement of the device, it will thus be caught between the screens. The action of the 'frames 4 in approaching each other is quite rapid and yet the same are arranged so that they will not unduly crush the insect. The device can be quickly reset and the oper ations repeated in quick succession. The screens 5 can be easily slid on the frames 4 and thus easily adjusted or removed when it is desired to replace the same.

From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided a very simple and ei'iicient fly catching device and one that can be made at a very low cost. The device, as previously stated, is very useful in catching and removing Hies from places where it is undesirable or impossible to strike the same with an ordinary fly swatter. The device also forms an interesting toy for children, as well as a very useful article for the purpose above described. The invention has been amply demonstrated in actual practice and found to be very efficient.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the forni, details and arrangement of the parts without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which, generally stated, consists in the matter shown and described and set forth in the appended claims.

Vhat is claimed is:

1. A fly" catching device in a form of a gun, comprising a barrel, a member movable rasogaa in said barrel, a pair of reticulate members pivoted to said movable member for movement toward and from each other, resilient means for suddenly moving said movable member, means for holding said means under tension and suddenly releasing the same and a cam action device for suddenly moving said reticulate members ytogether when said resilient means are released.

2. A device for catching flies and other insects having in combination, a pair of reticulate members, pivots about which said members swing toward and from each other, a movable member carrying said pivots, means by which said movable member may be moved in one direction to separate said reticulate members, and means for moving said movable member in the other direction to quickly move said reticulate members together.

3. A of screen covered frames mounted for movement toward and from each other, a barrel member, resilient means in said barrel connected to said frames, means forextending said resilient means to move said frame members to separated position, and means for holding said resilient means extended and for releasing the same whereby the sai'd frames are moved together.

4. A fly catching device having in combination, a tube, oppositely disposed apertures therethrough adjacent one end thereof, spring arms extending through said aperA tures and having screen covered frames at their outer ends, a member movable in said tube to which said arms are pivoted, resilient means connected to said member tending normally to move said arms to swing said frames together, means for holding said resilient means under tension and for releasing the same to move said frames together.

5. A fly catching device comprising a barrel, a pair of spring arms carrying flat screen covered frames at their outer ends and having their inner ends passing into said tube, a member movable in said barrel to which said arms are connected, a rod connected to said member, an extensile spring connected at one end to said barrel and at its other end to said rod, and a trigger device for holding said spring extended and for releasing the same.

6. rThe structure set forth in'claim 5, said lrod having means thereon engaging over said trigger member to hold said spring extended and also having means thereon for moving the same to extend said spring.

1n testimony whereof l aiix my signature.

OWEN R. BAILEY.

fly catching device comprising a pair 

